Lots of people forget to turn off digital devices on flight says study

Skift Take

Some of these survey findings are self-serving on part of APEX and CEA, who want the current in-flight digital device rules to be changed for more usage. For us, only 4-in-10 passengers wanting these rules to be changed is interesting, and needs some deeper digging on consumer attitudes.

— Rafat Ali

More and more flyers are taking their portable digital devices on flights, that much is obvious. If they own them, they will take them on the plane, of course.

90% of adult airline passengers who travel with digital device carried at least one onboard with them while traveling in the past 12 months.

Seven in ten (69 percent) reporting they used their devices during flight.

Almost one-third (30 percent) of passengers report they have accidently left their device turned on during a flight, which by our own anecdotal habits, seems low and our informed guesstimate would be more closer to 50%.

When asked to turn off their electronic devices, 59 percent of passengers say they always turn their devices completely off, 21 percent of passengers say they switch their devices to “airplane mode,” and five percent say they sometimes turn their devices completely off.

Of those passengers who accidently left their devices turned on in-flight, 61 percent said the device was a smartphone.

Four in ten passengers would like to use their devices during all phases of flight, including take-off and landing, according to the study.